I use H3 on my FH.I've Tried it on my BH and hated it.The sponge is Too hard for me.

It definitely plays different than all the ESN rubbers and any modern tension type rubbers.I find hard rubbers with a tacky top sheet reward full strokes in speed and spin.Half strokes won't make it over the net like a tensor would.

H3 is great for serve, control over the table and of course looping.

IF you used it in a hard sponge, of course it is too hard for you. The question is whether you would have liked it in a 35 to 37 degree sponge.

Following our recent Country Carnival (Rural club championships) and Interclub events, our club was just a little off the pace. We've not won the country carnival for maybe 30 years and our interclub, which only has 3 other teams of three, for 44 years!!! I played in both and didn't do too bad but for our club to win, me along with someone else needs to step up a little. Not heaps, but around 100-200pts. That's the goal.

This forum has been a brilliant tool for me and most of my improvement in the last few years has come from the very knowledgeable advice from various members. Last week though I decided to take another angle and have a couple of match videos analysed by a high level coach and ex-Olympian.

He watches a video then provides feedback on match strategy, technique improvements and drills to be able to improve these areas.

The feedback I received was nothing new and in fact at first I was a little disappointed at the few high level areas which were picked out as perhaps I was hoping for more. On reflection I think its better that I have only been provided a few key things so therefore I can have a narrow focus rather than trying trying to cast the net wide so I'm quite happy with the result.

So in summary, the main points for me to focus on more are: -- Loop more long balls, especially on backhand- Adopt the correct grip- Stay lower in points, I stand too upright- Lead with my hand rather than my shoulders as I lose power.- Engage the lower body more

As you can see, its nothing new for me but good to have the confirmation and the re-focus just the same. The way he said for me to practice this is to just get someone to serve and loop everything, don't play out the point. This is a change for me as when we practice 3rd ball, we often play out the point but he said it can lose the focus of what you are trying to do. I'd agree with this. Often I miss the second loop so he said as a separate drill to practice the 2nd shot but then stop.

So today I tried to put a bit of these things in practice. Mainly the grip at first as I really want to get used to it so did some counter hitting forehand then forehand/backhand. Also played a few points, trying to attack more. All up I think it went pretty well except the deeper I got into the session, the more the finger floated up the bat. Thats the focus thing, too much going on.

I use H3 on my FH.I've Tried it on my BH and hated it.The sponge is Too hard for me.

It definitely plays different than all the ESN rubbers and any modern tension type rubbers.I find hard rubbers with a tacky top sheet reward full strokes in speed and spin.Half strokes won't make it over the net like a tensor would.

H3 is great for serve, control over the table and of course looping.

IF you used it in a hard sponge, of course it is too hard for you. The question is whether you would have liked it in a 35 to 37 degree sponge.

Tonights practice I again concentrated on grip, along with using my lower body more. What does this actually mean though, use your legs, use your body. Does it mean that you actually push off your right leg (left in my case)? I've interpreted this as simply rotate your body, not sure if this is correct but that was my focus. I was pretty happy with the session and could feel it was different as to me it felt like I was doing an exaggerated roundhouse slap. The video does not show this which makes me feel I'm on the right track. There wasn't as much spin as I'd have liked but the balls were definitely faster than what I'd been hitting before.

Grip is starting to feel more natural however when I'm going into defensive mode ready to block, my finger tries to sneak back up the bat. In practice I've got a piece of blue-tack on the spot to put my finger, it will come off on match night.

You still look tense in that forehand exercise. Relax the arm and allow the body to control the arm more. Pay attention to your wrist...if it's relaxed then you are probably doing it just right.

The sound of the ball doesn't sound much like a loop either, you need to brush the ball more and allow the whip to carry the ball through. You wont hear that "thap" noise on contact then.

You are right that there is not quite enough spin but much of the "thap" you hear is actually the tensor click. This Gewo Flexxon is rediculously clickly and loud so much that you would have to be there to believe it. Having said that, there is still a fair bit of slapping going on.

Can clearly see that I'm not rotating shoulders enough. Been watching a few 3T videos and the kids get their shoulders 90 degrees to the table. Not sure if exactly correct but looks better than me.

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

90 deg is fine,especially in practice.

You *may* be better off incorporating a movement drill to help you learn to rotate - have the feed do one to the middle of the table, one to the forehand side. The point of this is your feet will be moving, and the steps might help you keep a bit more side on to the table.

Good suggestion, there is a good forehand video from forehand, middle, Backhand, middle etc. Nice pace, nothing crazy, will give that a go.

Might sound funny but really happy with my shadow swings in the reflection of the glass door. Will be trying to translate to when there is a table and ball in front. I know it won't be easy, I've shown that already but worth persisting I think.

Our Club championships are now over so its time to practice what I should be doing without fear of loss. Incidentally I only made it to the quarters this year after making it to the semis the previous two years. I was ranked 5th and lost to the no3 in 4. Our number 1 made it his 6th consecutive championship and he's only 19

Today's practice was brief, just one box of balls before match practice and the focus was trying to stay low, rotate and use correct grip. Was trying for consistancy and form rather than power.

At the time I wasn't really happy with the result as I didn't think I was rotating much but in looking at the video its not too bad. Still not low enough or using legs and waist enough.

Its been a few months since I've posted and I think this post is almost an admission of defeat. Perhaps not defeat but an admission to reality. Over the last few years I've practiced pretty hard and improved to a decent level at our club. Now that I've reached the top levels of our club I'm struggling to improve that bit more. Realistically I don't think I can get to the couple of levels above to beat the 2 standouts above me unless I turn the training up a notch but have lost a bit of drive to do it. I know I can do it if I continue to train hard and with purpose however after 3 years of doing this and having the pressure of expectation, I've pretty much now decided to just go out and play and have fun.

With a goal to do a marathon May next year then likely study requirements for work, I think I'm happy to settle in being in the mix of the top tier without being the top dog.

The main things I feel I want to improve can be worked on in match situations which are staying lower and using more backhand more with a correct technique.

We are currently in the off season where numbers are down a bit and so is the standard. There are really only 2 players at or above my level and the rest I should beat comfortably. There's usually a couple of matches a night that I can coast and still win easy. Rather than that though I'm taking the opportunity to try practice in match situations. The biggest thing is looping any long serve to my backhand, I was already doing this with forehand. There are many and the results are going well so I'm hoping this flows through to when I play the better players again.

So although I'm not currently doing dedicated training, I'm having fun and its not as intense for me. Ratings don't matter this time of year. Having said this, I still think that I can and will improve as long as I have an awareness of what I need to improve.

Played in a tournament for the weekend. Here's the only video I took. This player at the start of the day was 637pts (Ratings Central) but at the end of the day was 805pts. In my view thats about where he should be, maybe a little higher, with serve return his obvious weakness. His forehand and backhand loops were both better than mine though.

1) Your fh needs more bite. I think you should be using something faster than that applegren by now. Especially as a loop attacker.

2) around the end of the 2nd and start of the 3rd you had to loop 3 in a row. The 3rd shot looked like you had given up and were just trying to get it over.

3) following on from 2, and very possibly 1, possibly because your arm action still looks tight and without much whip to me. I used to coach that you need to relax the shoulder (not the arm actually) and get some whip going, however it either clicks straight away or it takes months to get it working.

Quite a number of your shots felt like your shoulder and arm were really tight - you were using your shoulder to roll it back over.

4) You are running an extreme bh grip when blocking and pushing on the bh. Not necessarily a bad thing, but possibly has a knock on effect (or vice versa, caused by) leaning back on the bh. Try to shift your weight forward. It will help with transition to attack.

5) You were pushing back long pushes on the FH a lot - you were often wrongfooted or didn't expect.Get into the mindset of looping everything long. I realise that you weren't sure/not expecting it, but if you can get into the mindset of attacking everything long with a fh loop or similar, that will go along way to improving your game. Remember that it doesn't need to be a quick attack, a slow, high spin loop is fine - it's an attack and forces the opponent to do something other than push. (Obviously not the correct tactic for every occasion, but more right than wrong).

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